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Japanese Internet Slang


In this video, Tomoe will teach you some useful slang related to the internet, email and texting. These phrases are actually used by Japanese people in real life so they are definitely worth learning. Check out the list below to see what they mean and don’t forget to watch the video.

 

Japanese Pronunciation English
メールしてね meeru shite ne Email me
リンク送ってね rinku okutte ne Send me the link
ググってみて gugutte mite Google it
自分でググってよ jibun de gugutte yo  Google it yourself
ネットで買った netto de katta I bought it online
ネットで落としてよ netto de otoshita yo I downloaded it off the net
ブログ炎上してるよ burogu enjō shiteru yo Your bog’s getting flamed
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Blog LJP Videos Useful Japanese Phrases Videos

Street Japanese 03 – Ikemen

In this video, Yoshiko and Alex will teach you what the slang “Ikemen” means and how to use it naturally in daily Japanese conversation.

Watch the other Street Japanese Videos 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05

[button link=”http://learnjapanesepod.com/wp-content/uploads/Street-Japanese-03.mp3″ color=”silver”]Download MP3[/button] [button link=”http://learnjapanesepod.com/wp-content/uploads/Street-Japanese-03.pdf” size=”medium” color=”green”]Download PDF[/button]

This is the 3rd in the series of Street Japanese videos. In this one Yoshiko talks about a hot new guy she met using the slang term イケメン ikemen.

Check out the dialog below to see how it used in natural Japanese conversation.

Dialog
A: そういえば、言ったっけ?
B: ん?何?
A: この間、イケメンと友達になった!
B: やるね!それで??
A: LINE交換したよ。

A: sō  ieba ittakke?
B: n, nani
A: kono aida ikemen to tomodachi ni natta
B: yaru ne, sore de?
A: rain kō kan shita yo

A: By the way, did I tell you?
B: Huh? What?
A: I met (made friends with) a hot guy
B: Way to go! Then what happened?
A: We exchanged Line contact addresses.

Did you know…
イケメン ikemen – is constructed from “ike” which comes from iketeru which means cool, good looking or stylish. “Men” comes from possibly the kanji 面 men – which means face or more likely from the English word “men”.

 

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Blog LJP Videos Useful Japanese Phrases Videos

Street Japanese 01- Dotakyan

Hey there you good-looking Learn Japanese Podders and welcome to my Street Japanese series of videos. I made these videos to teach natural Japanese as it is really spoken on the streets in Japan. Each video in the series links to the next one in order to create a long conversation so be sure to watch all the videos. You can also download PDF shownotes, an mp3 of the video and read about the grammar and culture featured in the videos.

Be sure to check back every Wednesday when we put up a new video. Enjoy!

Watch the other Street Japanese Videos 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05

Listen to just the audio

[button link=”http://learnjapanesepod.com/wp-content/uploads/StreetJapanese01.mp3″ color=”green”]Download MP3[/button]  [button link=”http://learnjapanesepod.com/wp-content/uploads/Street-Japanese-01.pdf” color=”aqua”]Download PDF[/button]

In this video we look at the phrase ドタキャン dotakyan which means to suddenly cancel going to a meeting. Here’s the dialog as we did it in the video.
A) ヨシコ、ひどいよー
B) え?なんで?どうしたの?
A) この間、ドタキャンしたじゃない?
B) あ、ごめん。これからは絶対しないから
A) 本当に?!

A) yoshiko, hidoi yo
B) e? nande?
A) kono aida dotakyan shita ja nai?
A) a, gomen. kore kara zetai shinai kara
B) hontō ni?

A) You’re terrible Yoshiko
B) Eh? Why? What’s the matter?
A) The other day you cancelled on me at the last minute!
B) Ah, sorry. I’ll absolutely never do that again!
A) Really?

Now here’s a little history for you…

Dotakyan comes from 土壇場キャンセル dotanba kyanseru – Last moment cancel. Japanese love to shorten long phrases so “dotanba kyanseru” changes to dotakyan.

But, where does 土壇場 come from?

During the Edo period, executions were carried out by stretching out the guilty horizontally on a small mound of earth. Then they would be decapitated by sword. That mound of earth was a 土壇場 dotanba. 土 do is earth, 壇 tan means a mound and 場 ba means place. During the Edo period 土壇場 came to mean “the place of execution”.

In modern use, 土壇場 dotanba means at the last moment, or at 11th hour. This probably comes from the idea that an execution is the very last minute of life.

There, I bet you didn’t know that AND it’s used all the time. So, try that out on your Japanese friends to amaze and amuse them.

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Blog LJP Videos Useful Japanese Phrases

How to order anything at a shop or restaurant in Japanese

If you would like to know the single most useful phrase when shopping and eating out in Japan, you are in the right place.
The phrase you need to know is…drum roll…

これをください

Kore o kudasai

This means “This please” or “I’ll take this one”. This is a super useful phrase and can be used to order food and buy almost anything in shops. In fact the joke goes, every restaurant in Japan serves the dish “kore” (This).

The other thing you need to know is how to order multiple things as in “I’ll take two of these”, “I’ll take three of these” etc. Check the vocabulary list below. maaa

 

Japanese Pronunciation English
 これをください  kore o kudasai  I’d like this please
 これをひとつください  kore o hitotsu kudasai  I’d like 1 please
これをふたつください  kore o futatsu kudasai  I’d like 2 please
 これをみつください  kore o mitsu kudasai  I’d like 3 please
 これをよつください  kore o yotsu kudasai  I’d like 4 please
 これをいつつください  kore o itsutsu kudasai  I’d like 5 please

One last thing to remember is that in many Japanese restaurants, you can make use of the menu which usually has pictures for the food. In this way, you can simply point and say これをください and you’ll be fine.

 

ENJOY!

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Blog LJP Videos Useful Japanese Phrases Videos

4. Learn Japanese Pod – Tadaima & Okaeri nasai

In this video, Tomoe teaches us two must-know Japanese phrases for when you get home. They are ”ただいま” tadaima – which means “I’m home”. The other phrase ”おかえりなさい” okaeri nasai means something like welcome back and is the answer to tadaima.

This is used everyday in households across Japan so this is a great phrase to know.

More Japanese language learning videos

Introduce yourself in Japanese Learn Japanese Pod Video 1: How to introduce yourself in Japanese | In this video, we learn some basic useful greetings in Japanese.
Useful daily Japanese phrases Learn Japanese Pod Video 2: Useful daily phrases you use a lot in Japanese | In this lesson, you will learn some must-know daily phrases in Japanese
Screen Shot 2015-01-10 at 19.03.04 Learn Japanese Pod Video 3: Phrases for leaving your house – itte kimasu | “Itte-kimasu” is perhaps one of the most used phrases in Japanese and you should definitely learn it! Check out the video to see what it means.
tadaima Learn Japanese Pod Video 4: Phrases for when you get home – Tadaima – Okaeri nasai | In this video you will learn some great phrases used everyday in Japan when returning home
Apologize in Japanese Learn Japanese Pod Video 5: How to apologize in Japanese | As they say in Japan, if it’s your fault, apologize, and if it isn’t, apologize. Check out how to apologize in Japanese.
Useful Japanese Restaurant Phrases 1 Learn Japanese Pod Video 6: Useful Japanese phrases for restaurants in Japan 1 | In this video you’ll learn how to get seats on your arrival at a restaurant
ordering drinks in Japanese Learn Japanese Pod Video 7: Useful Japanese phrases for restaurants in Japan 2 | In this video you’ll learn how to order drinks in Japanese at a restaurant after being shown to your table

Interviews

Zen Meditation in Kyoto 1) Interview with a Zen monk on meditation in Kyoto